A Mystery for the Crime Dog

When it comes to card-related accounts on Twitter, there are few as important as @brentandbecca of 5-star Sports Cards. In the middle of the night, Brent posted a screenshot of a 2019 Topps Dynasty “1 of 1” auto/patch card of Fred McGriff. Almost instantly, the Twitter conspiracy wheels began turning as many collectors started to question the origins of the patch used in the high-end Topps card.

Speculation (and Tweets) were running wild throughout the night, but eventually a very knowledgeable collector came forward and pointed to an obscure jersey that McGriff likely wore in 1997 while with the Atlanta Braves. Even with some collectors still questioning the authenticity of the patch, I don’t have any doubt that Topps used a real “game-used” jersey for this particular card. You can see the origin of the jersey here.

As for the “Crime Dog”, who turned 56 on Halloween (where does the time go?) …. it’s great to see a beloved player of his caliber in a high-end, modern set like Dynasty. He’s not a superstar that young collectors may fully appreciate (OK BOOMER) but us older cardboard fanatics have always been partial to McGriff’s quiet, no-nonsense approach that helped him become one of baseball’s most prolific sluggers of the 90s, with 493 career home runs.

As for the Dynasty card, you can find it on eBay with a $1,500 price tag. If that figure is a bit out of your price range, check out McGriff’s first ever, pack-inserted certified autograph from 1996 Leaf Signatures. One recently sold for an insanelylow $7.16. Another option would be to hope that the Dynasty seller comes to his senses and prices the 2019 card a little more reasonably.

That’s about as likely to happen as Fred McGriff being voted into the Hall of Fame.